nfreeman

Not much action around the league yet, and we're only about 44 hours from the draft, innit?

Yes yes yes! The D played much better in the 2nd half, which speaks well of McD and Frazier. They got manhandled in the 1st half though. I freaking love Stefon Diggs.

I'm not a fan of Harrington's, but there is some interesting stuff in that column. For example, I don't think I'd heard this previously: This I think is pretty out to lunch, given the glut of goalies that will be available: But this is a very fair observation: As is this: And this is a reasonable inference:

FWIW, the NHL.com mock draft has 2 of their 3 writers predicting the Sabres take Perfetti, and the 3rd says Lundell. https://www.nhl.com/news/nhlcom-mock-draft-alexis-lafreniere-top-pick/c-319269974?tid=277764372

Huge bonehead move by JA to take that sack.

I think there will be plenty of good options. I do not want to commit to anyone for more than 2 seasons.

Interesting (assuming you are referring to weightier discussions than those taking place here). Marchie would round out the Sabres' new and improved top 6 pretty nicely: Skinner-Eichel-Reino VO-Staal-Marchie Kahun-Cozens-TT XXX-Lazar-KO There are going to be a number of good forwards in this caliber who become available for cap/cash reasons, and I don't think the price will be much more than a 2nd-rounder and/or a Borgen-level prospect. I sure hope the Sabres scoop one up.

This seems right and I sure hope it is — but I also want some action! Gimme at least one good trade by Tuesday night to tide me over and then I’ll be happy to play the waiting game.

Eating one or snuggling with it?

Marchessault is interesting. He's a C, shoots R, turns 30 in December, 5'9", 180, very good skater, pretty productive at about 55-60 pts per season, plays about 17 min per game, and has 4 years left on a contract with a $5MM per year cap hit but $4.25MM per year average cash hit, and no NTC. This is another guy that would usually either not be available, or available only at a steep price in trade, but this year might be available at a pretty discounted price. Yes please.

Serious question: if KO's contract had expired now, or last summer, or the summer before, would he still be on the team? I think the answer is that he almost certainly would not be, and that he'd likely not be in the NHL.

I like Friedman alright and I don't think he peddles BS, but I'm not a big fan of his. I find him pretty long-winded and I think he definitely provides vague responses when he doesn't have any specific info instead of admitting a lack of knowledge.

Sooooo... I realized that the 1st round of the draft is a mere 5 days away, with free agency 3 days after that. Stuff's gonna start happening. I'm optimistic.

I hereby nominate @Wyldnwoody44's gif for the top moment of the year on SabreSpace, if not the planet.

The buzzards are circling. The only way to get them to scatter is to ice a good, competitive team that stays in contention for the entire season and gives Eichel and everyone else confidence in the organization. Until then, there will be more of this, not less. In the meantime, it's a major challenge for RK to keep everyone focused and positive, and for KA to find the right guys and convince them to come here.

Yes, but this was TB's decision, not the Sabres'. Bogo forced his way out because RK decided he couldn't play any more, not because the Sabres were trying to save $$. Now, if one wants to ask whether this was a poor decision by RK, or whether RK should've been able to get more out of Bogo (like he should've been able to do with Skinner) I think that's a legit question.

The Athletic is reporting that Nick Leddy may be available due to an Islanders cap crunch. Leddy is a terrific skater, turns 30 next March, and has two years left on his contract at $5.5 million per year cap hit but a total of $13.5 million in cash. He played over 21 minutes per game this year for an excellent defensive team that made the final 4 and is a no-BS top 4 NHL LHD. Due to his contract, he’ll probably be available for a song, and the Islanders might even retain part of his contract.

Well, KC looks unstoppable. Holy mackerel.

Interesting. I can see this being leaked by a rival GM who might want to sign the same FA or trade for the same guy as KA wants. The problem is that the Sabres have squandered their credibility as a franchise by tanking, stinking for so long, trading ROR, hiring and firing a bunch of people, etc. -- so this kind of rumor is given more credence than it would if it were instead being said about a respected franchise.

Dude. Do you think on balance the Bills benefited more from questionable calls in that game or were hurt by them? The interception looked like a bad call. But even your fellow conspiracy theorist @SwampD soberly agrees that Kroft was guilty of offensive pass interference. More importantly, the Rams started that drive down 18 pts and 59 yards away from the end zone. The Bills' D was unable to stop the Rams' O from doing whatever they wanted for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the game was over when the Bills didn't convert that 4th-and-9 with 15 seconds left... until THE REFS, THE REFS, THOSE DASTARDLY REFS gave the Bills a first down on a borderline PI call drawn by a rookie WR. In any case, I'm glad that JA gathered his wits and led a terrific game-winning drive. He was Bad Josh for most of the 2nd half, but he didn't fall apart completely and he won the game for them at the end. The Bills definitely need to improve on D, though, especially the pass rush.

That was a very nice drive!

OK, so Gaudreau is a LW with 2 years left on his contract @ $6.75MM per year, both cash and cap hit, and then he's a UFA. He's reportedly already indicated to Calgary that he intends to leave in FA -- so any acquiring team has to assume there is a high likelihood that he decides to test FA when his deal is up. He's a dynamic offensive player who is a top-liner on almost any NHL team. I think in most non-2020 years, he's bringing back at least a #1 pick plus a very goo d young player -- i.e. a F or D who's already demonstrated top-6 F or top-4 D ability, as well as upside to potentially move higher in the lineup. What's his market value in this nutty year? Could the Sabres get him without giving up Cozens, #8 or Reino? It seems impossible that Calgary would take, say, Montour, Mittlestadt and the Sabres' 2021 #1 -- but will Calgary get an appreciably better offer than that elsewhere?

Major test today. The Rams are a big step up in class relative to the Jets and the Dolphins. And the Bills will be without 2 of their offensive weapons in Knox and Moss.

This is obnoxious and not how we communicate here.

This is ingenious: https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-deployed-at-helsinki-airport-can-detect-covid-19-with-near-perfect-accuracy